Flint Again

I made the Megan Nielsen Flint pant again (!) and I love them, AGAIN! 

I originally made the Flint pant as a tester last fall and that pair was more work appropriate, made up in a stretch pinstripe suiting.  For this pair I really wanted something more everyday, casual that would work great for our, you guessed it, beach trip.  Yep, still sewing for that.  What can I say, I really do better with my sewing if I have some goal to work toward, I am hugely productive when that is the case.  For some reason lately the beach trip has been motivating my sewing more that all the contests at Pattern Review. 

 In any case, these turned out awesome.  I love them and have worn them two days in a row after making them.  Sometimes I wonder about the shape of these, are they flattering-are they not...but I come back to the fact that I really enjoy wearing them and that's what matters most! 

The fabric is from Fabric Mart Fabrics, and I believe it is a tencil/poly blend or cotton/poly blend chambray.  It has a little stretch and isn't shirt weight or bottom weight, somewhere in between.  So it feels very light, is opaque but not too light.  Helpful for you to know all that, I'm sure!  

I believe it was a "Julie's Pick," and if you aren't familiar with Julie's pick, its a monthly subscription over at Fabric Mart.  You receive samples of gorgeous fabrics each month that only subscribers can purchase.  You also receive a set on monthly coupons which are really good, things like free bundles, free shipping, discount this or that...good stuff.  Worth it if you are new to sewing and trying to familiarize yourself with fabric types.  

As far as construction, and fit, I made the size Medium, like last time.  I also changed the waistband interfacing a little (since it is folded over on itself I added interfacing to only one half the length of the waistband so that it wouldn't be too restrictive or stiff) and added quarters to the hemline to weigh them down (one at each seam at the hem, four total).  This is not my original idea, I read about it on Erika Bunker's blog and thought it was a great tip!

The top is McCalls 6963 and is a Palmer/Pletsch pattern, I love these for the alteration lines that they include on the pattern pieces.  I should've narrowed the shoulders on this one and will do so the next time I make it.  I will also have to rethink the back neck finishing, maybe adding a dart.  It sits out away from my neck a bit.  I like that this is a T-shirt pattern with a little something extra with the cowl neck.  The fabric is from Fabric Mart as well and was included in a free bundle.  I am pretty sure its a rayon/lycra.   

 

My eight year old is my fashion photographer and in exchange for her time and talents I have to oblige her photo direction and pose however she instructs.  This pose is called "super mom" however I think it looks more like an off kilter yoga pose :)  she is much better at the super hero poses than I!

Thanks for reading and happy sewing!

Elizabeth

Flint, Lark and Lisette

For the past couple of years I have tried to sew garments that I can get a lot of versatile wear from.  I love making unique, one of a kind pieces but at the end of the day I must have a basic wardrobe back drop to pair those unique pieces with! 

Here enters patterns like the following three...

Megan Nielsen Flint pant:

I was a pattern tester for Megan this fall and sewed her pants up in a drapey poly/lycra suiting from my stash.  I was unsure about the volume of these pants but after putting them on and taking pictures I loved them.  They are so comfortable and my very favorite feature is the waistband closure.  There's no zipper, the closure in incorporated into the pocket and is so clever.  

I am 5'5" and was a little skeptical about the length of these, they turned out not quite long enough or not quite short enough based on your perspective but in the final draft Megan ended up shortening this length by a couple of inches based on tester feed back.

The pattern includes a shorts version and a version with a cute tie at the waist, I am hopeful that I can complete a pair in rayon for this summer. I think they will be super comfortable and with the high waistband I can wear shorter tops without the dreaded belly flash potential!!

Grainline Lark:

This is a simple tee, and the pictures pretty much do the talking.  Its longer in length, a touch too long for my taste so I will probably shorten in the future but that is such a simple fix it hardly warrants mentioning. 

The fabric is from FabricMart and was one of the wonderful pre-cut rayon/lycra lengths.  If you haven't discovered their pre-cuts, you might want to check them out.  They are so affordable and I am always in need of inexpensive knits for my girls.

Lisette Butterick 6183:

I am a fan of Liesl Gibson's Lisette Butterick patterns and this is another great one.  I made this top up in a left over length of ponte that did not have a lot of stretch.  It is a great fitting top.  I made my usual grading between sizes changes and thats it.  The pieces go together beautifully and the instructions so good.  

Butterick 6260:

One more thing to mention.  I am pretty proud of how my March project for Fabric Mart turned out and wanted to include some of those pictures here.

I did a big write-up over on their blog which included stripe matching tips and you can find that HERE.

This was a project that took a lot of hours but was worth it in the end.  I learned a lot about the guts of a semi tailored jacket in the process and made up some of my own rules as I went.  I highly recommend Palmer Pletsch's "Jackets for Real People" if you are new to tailoring.  They have a super practical, logical approach to the process which I so appreciate.

The pattern is Liesl Gibson's Butterick 6260 and its worth noting that this is a VERY fitted jacket so you may want to muslin it first.  I usually have to do a narrow shoulder adjustment for all major pattern company patterns but for this one it was unnecessary with the very fitted cut.  There are lots of fitting lines in the bodice of the pattern so that helps in fitting your waist.

Well that's a quick round up from me on a few pieces I've made!

Thanks for reading! 

Elizabeth